Box construction



Feb- 23, 1943. s w, PARSONS BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed June 8, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 VVVVVV STUART WPARSONS v M Feb. 23, 1943. s. w. PARSONS. 2,311,960

BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed June 8, 1940 3 Sheets$heet 2 WJDARSONS g i at Q? r R w w w m T T -HHHHHHIUH S V W 4 m m m Feb. 23, 1943.

s. w. PARSONS BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed June 8, 1940 s Shets-Sheet s STU/x2 Patented Feb. 23, 1943 BOX CONSTRUCTION Stuart .W. Parsons, New Britain, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 8, 1940, Serial No. 339,464

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to boxes for the holding and transporting of glassware and bottled goods.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved box having end, side, and bottom members of relatively light wood, and metal end binding strips, both to reinforce and protect the box edges. The arrangement i such that the binding strips are initially secured to the end wall of the box to form therewith a complete box member, whereby the subsequent assembly and construction of the box is facilitated.

The binding strips utilized herein are so constructed that they may be readily and easily secured to the end walls and thereafter assembled with the side and bottom members without in any way marring or damaging the wood and without the use of special machinery. Moreover, the construction of the end binding strips is such that in the completed box there are no exposed edges or sharp corners whereby injury may result either to the persons handling same or to the surface upon which the boxes are placed or over which they are slid.

In addition, the resultant structure is an exremely strong one capable of withstanding considerable abuse and of such simple construction that it may be economically manufactured in large quantities.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box embodying the invention herein;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the metal binding strip;

Fig. 3 is a section View taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view with the parts partially assembled;

Fig. 5 is a View taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view taken on the line 5-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a view taken on the line 'l'! of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 i a fragmentary view of the corner formed by the binding strip;

Fig. 9 is a section on line 59 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a view of the binding strip prior to its being bent into the form shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, the box comprises generally an end piece I!) of relatively light wood and having an integrally secured right angular metal binding strip l5 cooperating therewith to support and position the rectangular, relatively light wooden side walls 12 and bottom wall [4. More specifically, the end piece I0 is rectangular and the binding piece I6 U-shaped having a base IT and legs IQ of right angular cross section providing an end facing flange I 8 secured to the piece It! by teeth 22 (later described) and a peripheral flange 20 parallelling the side and bottom edges of the piece Hi. The flange I8 is of such width that it spaces the peripheral flange 20 away from the side and bottom edges of the end piece Hi to define a receiving groove 33 of like depth to the thickness of the side and bottom walls and in which the ends of same are positioned.

To assist in positioning the ends of the side and bottom walls, the free edge of the peripheral flange 29 has an inturned lip 23 receivable within a groove or scoring 30 in the side and bottom walls and cooperating during assembly to temporarily interlock the box members until the securing nails 32 are driven through the flange 20. When so secured, the inturned lip 28 remains positioned within the groove 30; and as the exposed portion of the flange 20 in alignment with the groove will present a rounded edge, the cases may be readily slid one against the other and without injury to those handling them. To further facilitate the handling of the boxes; the corners Ifia of the binding'strip are rounded (see Fig. 8), producing a caster efiect and eliminating the danger of scoring or cutting surfaces upon which the cases are slid or placed.

To economically and conveniently produce a box having the aforementioned structural characteri'stics and resultant advantages, the metal end pieces I 6 may be out to proper length from a continuous metal strip of proper right angular cross section. The strips have cut therein ninety degree V-shaped notches 23 to permit the bending on a line 2362 extending at right angles to the apex of the \1 into U-shape form. To obtain the rounded corners ltd, the peripheral flange 2!! is cut on the line 23a and inwardly from the apex of the notch 23 to produce a slit 35 extending for a distance of approximately one-third the width of the flange 29 (see Figs. 9 and 10) After being out, the metal surrounding the slit 35 and that adjacent the apex of notch 23 is p'eaned upwardly and inwardly to provide a substantially \'I-shaped ridge 35a. With this construction, when the strip is bent at right angles on the line 23a the opposed edges of the slit 35 and of the notch will lie adjacent one another to form the rounded corners [6a.

To prevent ballooning or bulging out of the flange I! when bent at right anglso'n the line 23a, there is struck therein a reinforcing embossing l1a having its raised portion on the inner side of the flange embossing Fla. The rib extends an equal distance to each side of the line of fold.

and in the completed end piece constitutes a right angle rib embossing which maintains the corners of the end binding strip parallel to the wooden corner of the box.

For the purpose of securing the binding strip [6 to the end member I the teeth 22 ar V- shaped tabs struck from the end facing flange l8 adjacent its free edge. In striking out the teeth. the bases or jointures 25 all lie in a horizontal plane with the teeth extending laterally from and at right angles to the plane of the flange l8. With this arrangement, all of the teeth may be driven into the wood parallel to the grain, and no splitting will result.

As the members H] are of relatively thin wood, to assure the binding strip I6 being permanently I secured the teeth are so curved that when driven into the wood a clinching effect is obtained without the teeth protruding inside of the box with the resultant points to do injury to the contents thereof. The curvature is such that the length of the teeth may be equal to (or even slightly longer than) the thickness of the end pieces. To accomplish this, the teeth are formed with a slight concavity 21 (see Fig. 3) intermediate the tips 29 and jointures to position the tips 29 in a plane above the central portion 3| of the tooth and point them in a direction of desired curvature. With the teeth so formed, on driving them into the end piece the under surface of the tooth will function as a cam, causing the points to turn back toward the end flange I 8 and lie wholly within the thickness of the end piece In to integrally form therewith a complete end member wherein the curvature of the teeth after bein driven is greater than the original curvature.

Upon completion of the end piece, the box may be readily assembled by forcing the end of the bottom wall l4 into the groove 33 until the inturned lip snaps into the groove'30 of the bottom wall (see Fig. 4), and thereafter sliding the end walls 12 into position. When so assembled, the cooperating lips 28 and grooves 3|] hold the box together andenable the handling of same to permit the nails 32 to be readily driven through the peripheral flange 20 to rigidly secure the box members together. With the box so constructed, the binding pieces l6 not only reinforce the ends but completely cover the edges of all of the wooden members, thus preventing. any splintering of the wood upon the handling of the box. In addition, as the flanges 20 are substantially' flush with the outer faces of the side and bottom members and the corners of the'binding piece are rounded, the boxes may readily be handled without injury to the surfaces over which they are passed or injury to those handling same. Moreover, as the securing teeth 25 and the securing nails 32 are entirely positioned within the wood, the entire inner surface of the'box is left unmarred, and no scratching of the contents placed in the box will result.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Y

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention 1. A box comprising end members side members, and a bottom member, the ends of the side and bottom members respectively overlying the side and bottom edges of the end member, and a U,-shaped metallic reinforcing strip having an end facing flange secured to the end member and a peripheral flange extending inwardly and at right angles thereto and overlying the ends of said side and bottom members, the end fac- "ing flange being secured to said end member by teeth struck from the base and vertical legs thereof; the point of jointure of said teeth with said flange being such that the teeth all lie in parallel horizontal planes and are parallel to the grain of the wood, said teeth being provided with a concavity intermediate of their ends where upon being driven into the end member they curve and lie wholly within same.

2. A box comprising end members, side members, and a bottom member, the ends of said side and bottom members respectively overlying the side and bottom edges of the end member, a U-shaped metallic reinforcing strip having an end'facing flange secured to the outer face of the end member and overlying the ends of said side and bottom members, the end facing flange being secured to said end member by teeth struck from the metal thereof, said teeth all lying in horizontal planes, whereby they will enter the wood parallel to the grain thereof, and a peripheral flange extending inwardly and at right angles to the end facing flange and overlying the outer faces of said side and bottom members adjacent the ends thereof, the edge of said peripheral flange having an inturned lip and a cooperating groove provided in said side and bottom members for receiving said lip, whereby said peripheral flange Will be substantially flush with ilgle outer surface of said side and bottom mem- 3. A box comprising end members, side members, and a bottom member, and a U-shaped metallic reinforcing strip having an end facing flange secured to the end member and a peripheral flange extending inwardly and at right angles thereto and overlying the ends of said side and bottom members, the end facing flange being secured to said end member by teeth struck therefrom and all lying in a horizontal plane, said teeth being of greater length than the thickness of said end member and having their outer ends bent out of the normal plane of the teeth, whereby upon being driven into the end member they curve upwardly and lie wholly within same.

4. A box wall or endmember including a rectangular wooden member and a metallic binding strip secured thereto, said binding strip being U-shaped and having an end facing flange secured to the face of the end member by teeth struck from the end flange, and a peripheral STUART W. PARSONS. 

